Late summer’s tomatoes are particularly sweet, and going to the farmers market this time of year brings tomatoes in every which color and hue – green zebras, Italian hearts, sun golds and bright yellow fully fleshed out tomatoes. They pair particularly well with bitter dandelion greens, and just to add more summer (in late September, one can never have too much summer), I thinly, and safely, sliced a yellow squash on my mandolin. The thin slices of squash were treated to a bit of salt to bring out the water, a squeeze, and a gentle saute. Whisking together a bit of red miso, mirin, rice vinegar, sesame oil and pepper, I dressed the greens lightly before adding in the tomatoes (and their accompanying sweet juice) and the sauteed squash.
Before that little foray into summer, I had started on the blini batter, and not realizing the recipe called for yeast and 2.5 – 3 hours of letting the yeast do its thang, I gave it as much time as possible before lightly frying the blinis. Skipping the sour cream, and not being able to properly hand whisk the egg white into stiff peaks, did not result in the most light and fluffy blinis known to man, but the crust was lovely, and let’s be honest, the blinis were just a vehicle for my prized birthday treat of Russian caviar! Ta-da! Exploding like riots inside my mouth, the salmon roe had all the salty goodness of the sea, and by the 5th or 6th blini I had stopped using the blini as a vehicle, and just started using a spoon. What a treat!
Dry Wood Bursting Into Flame 